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Customers lose patience with ‘misleading’ group sales websites

There can be big delays processing vouchers or the experiences fail to match expectations

Leah Milner

May 7 2011, 1:01am, The Times

Melanie Robinson and Sharan Jaswal have both been disappointed with GrouponJon Enoch for The Times

Group-buying websites have been growing in popularity thanks to promises of huge discounts on products and services from beauty treatments to meals out and holiday packages, but many customers are struggling to book the experiences that they have paid for or are finding that the reality falls far short of their expectations.

The advertising watchdog and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) have recently taken action against some promotions that were deemed to be misleading and Times Money has heard from a growing number of unhappy customers who have lost patience with the group-buying craze.

The websites allow local businesses to market their services by offering big discounts if a specified number of customers sign up for a deal. The most widely known of these…

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